Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Headed north of the border

Well, Jason Giambi didn’t get in through the All-Star Game Final Vote. That’s a shame — I thought he would have been a phenomenal contender in the Home Run Derby on Monday. He’ll just have to make do with his second prize … four days and three nights in fabulous Las Vegas.

First, the Yankees will have to get through the next three days, heading north of the border after last night’s unproductive detour in Pittsburgh. More troubling than the loss, we’d say, is the fact that Jorge Posada was once again out of the lineup with Jose Molina catching. Posada is very proud about the fact that he’s a catcher, not a first baseman, and he is insistent that he signed with the Yankees to catch all four years of his contract.

Now, we can debate about whether Posada can legitimately expect to catch in 2011. But I don’t think anyone saw it coming that he’d be pushed off to the side in 2008 — obviously, the right shoulder is a major concern for Joe Girardi, even though he won’t publicly say it. I asked Brian Cashman the same question in New York last week and he said that there’s health, and that nobody works harder than Posada. Then why not play him?

Assorted notes and quotes: Mariano Rivera will not start the All-Star Game, it seems. Good. His place belongs in the ninth inning if the American League has a lead. … Hank Steinbrenner tells USA Today that he plans to hire Lou Piniella as an advisor once Sweet Lou’s managing days are through. … The FanFest opens today at the Javits Center. Since I’m in town for the festivities and not in Toronto, I may have time to check it out. If so, I’ll post a report. … Don Larsen’s perfect game was screened last night at BB King’s in midtown. Wish I’d been there. …. Who, exactly, is paying to watch Jose Canseco fight in Atlantic City? …

85 Comments

I think Mariano Rivera has to start the All Star Game. It would be such a spectacular moment in Yankee Stadium. Everyone who made the team deserves it, so Giambi didn’t make it, you’d have to get rid of Youkilis, or Bradley. Bonds could take advantage of the short porch out in RF, so maybe it would be a good deal but, then again how will Yankee fans react to that. Plus, when he does have to run the bases out he will only get a single on what could have been a possible double or triple.

This sucks buttox. So many holes on this team, we should be called the Bronx Swiss Cheese.

The management is horrible ( Cashman and Co.)
The pitching is weak ( Ponson, Rasner, Ponson is just going through his newcomer’s phase, just like Rasner and his 4-0 start. )
The hitting is inconsistent, but Id prefer it be inconsistent with hungry players ( Gardner, Christian ) who will only get better than fading vets ( Damon and Abreu ).

The Yankees would be smart in dumping these two for whatever value they still behold.

Yanks pitching is fine…will not get consistent production from Abreu, A-Rod, Giambi, Posada…Steinbrenners need to take the reins, man up, and sign Barry Bonds Immediately…move Abreu to the five spot, Bonds to batting third, take some pressure off of A-Rod batting clean up (A-Rod is no Manny in the clutch)…Cano & Cabrera will benefit from watching Bonds hit & patience at the plate…their OBP will increase…Bonds presence will be the catalyst for this moribund offense if we are to make the playoffs. Shelve all the inane, unsubstantiated comments about steriods, cheating, and role models for our youth…If you want role models look to your parents…or maybe those denizens of Wall Street

We need Jason Bay or the X-man NOW. We are so freakin lucky that we are not 12 games behind right now. But then again, we could’ve seriously cut the lead to 4 if our offense showed up in those last 2 games.
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I wouldn’t mind getting Sexon as a bench player, but only if he’ll cost us less than a million. But, again, this is not the time to worry about the bench. It’s the starting offense that needs help.
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We don’t need to trade for a starting pitcher. Our starting pitchers are pitching very well, and so as our bullpen. As of now, we need offense to keep us in the race and make the playoffs. If we make the playoff (and only if we get an offensive bat), than we’ll have 5 reasonable starting pitchers:
Wang
Moose
Petite
Chamberlain
Hughes
That’s not bad at all!
One OFFENSIVE BAT should fix the problem; especially that Damon and matsui are coming back.

With the Milton signing, the Yanks are doing thier best “antiques roadshow” impression. He was in the Knoblach deal. KNOBLACH!!! I forgot how to spell his name it was so long ago. My goodness.
Does Livan Hernandez have another brother we can sign instead???
Screw it. Trade Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson for Jason Bay. I mean, really…would the pirates trade him??

Hey Chaz, AWESOME posts tonight. Some of your best yet.
I like how you got on the MOLE who was spouting off his “Spankee” crap. Yeah, we need that like we need eye crud in the morning after a hard night of drinking heavily.
I agree with you about sexon being better then our worst, but if you think about it, its like dumping an ugly girl for a “rubenesque” chick with a “nice personality”. Its still going to be a major task trying to score.
Pitching vs Hitting-in my opinion I think we need a little of both. Especially guys that can pinch hit a little bit…
Matt, I swear, the WB was yelling from the dugout about getting struck out (again). Maybe this dried up feminine hygeine product should draw a couple of walks before he decides to jaw at an ump for calling him out on strikes??

Now that I think about it. The offense doesn’t deserve a big pitching acquisition. Not at least until the prove that we shouldn’t release every damn one of them. This is, man for man, the same club that was 1st in runs per game last year; and they can’t manage more than 2 runs per game. Screw them, they don’t need pitching help.

Bronxkidd,
I said I would rather have a right handed bat. Jason Bay is very high on my list. Sexon at his worst is better than any bench player we have at their best. At least we know that Sexon is capable of having a big impact, just look at his career numbers. I’m not saying start him over G. I’m not even saying give him that much playing time, but he would be dangerous as a pinch hitter late in games, maybe. It doesn’t matter, though. Like you said, Cashman isn’t interested in signing an impact player. What was Steinbrenner saying the other day, “Yankees fans deserve marquee players….”? Yeah, right, YOU F-ING LIAR!!!!!!!!

chaz… first of all Adam Dunn hits alot of homers; very true. But he also strikes out almost as much as he hits and his walks are declining. Not to mention that his fielding skills aren’t great.

Jason Bay seems to be the better option there. He’s younger, more athletic… RIGHT handed, and makes better contact. Not to mention that he’s a CF and would make cake of our LF space.

He’s cheaper as well, since the Pirates aren’t contending anyway. Ian Kennedy and a couple AA prospects would seem fit for a team that’s almost always in rebuilding mode.

Richie Sexson? He would not help us at all… he doesn’t make enough contact, his arms are so long that he gets jammed on pitches in the OUTER-half. He needs a smaller bat. The glove? Don’t we have Wilson Betemit for that?

Tiki Barber was great as a player, but let’s not mix things up. People and players are totally different, he could be the best player on the field and the worst person in the clubhouse. Us fasn don’t see that side though.

On the baseball side, Arizona could sign Bonds in the next few days. The Yankees are still inerested in Marte and Fuentes, but this Milton signing means that Cashman is more attracted to scrap heap than immediate, all-star caliber skill.

Our pitching has actually been our strong point this season… surprisingly. Our HITTING is what has been anemic. My God! Two hits? Did the Yankees suddenly become this weak National League style-play type team or something. Even in our four game winningstreak– and I’m sorry to point out the bad in the good, but MAN! If it weren’t our dominating pitching, we would have lost all those games. So, as you can see in our last two games, if we don’t pitch… we won’t win. And we can’t leave the game in the hands of the pitchers ALL the time… man, the offense needsto show up. PERIOD.

Maybe he’s a Tampa Bay honk. I mean, why not start talking trash about the Yankees with their century of tradition and dominance over American sport. After all they have their 1st division lead before the break in the entire history of the franchise! Neat.

Everyone, I wonder if d-bag@yahoo.com is a Toronto honk? If that’s the case, it’s nice to see a loser piling on us while he backs a team that hasn’t even been relevant for 10 years. Who’s your team, stvlrsn? Don’t be shy…

Hey, stvlrsn@yahoo.com (a.k.a. Dousche Bag),
Loser, enjoy the fact that the Yankees are stumbling while it lasts. Unfortunately for you, the Yankees never “suck” for very long before we fix the mess and rattle of 3 or 4 championships in a row. Before I even know who your “team” is, I can sleep well tonight knowing that the Yankees have 26 (that’s twenty-six) World Series Championships, and your team doesn’t even have 1/2 that many. Know this, chucklehead, throughout the long days of time that have yet come to pass. The Yankees will continue to win and win and win while everyone else gets to play for second. Oh, and nice to come in with your Yankees suck blast, and then not even divulge who your team is. Get a life.
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And another thing, stop telling us crap we already know, Ace. You see, we don’t need outsiders coming in here and criticizing this team. WE already are doing plenty of that on our own. It’s like picking on your little brother. You pick on him plenty, but no one else is allowed to touch him. Don’t start something you can’t finish. Frankly, every time you say the “Spankees” suck, I can think of at least 26 more reasons why we don’t. Stay down, loser, move on and find internet somewhere else.
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Redsoxblow
Yep, we sure needed that pitching you were talking about today. The 0 runs we scored really drove your point home, didn’t it. With an “ace” pitcher, and scoreless help from the pen, we may have only lost 3-0! Sadly, we still would have lost.

Based on the Maurice Clarett Situation, its my understanding that the reason why the NFL won’t allow HS kid to come declare for the draft is because “their bodies aren’t developed enough”. I am not sure what they are basing that on…
Baseball is a great sport. its just different the football. But one thing i HAVE to say is that football draws all of the arrogant pricks to it. I played ball with some guys that only cared about “how they looked”. At least baseball tries to have a “code” or respect and not showing up other players…
I mean, guys doing a dance when they get a sack…? You kidding me????

Michael, I have to agree w/ you on the idea that football is more than “who has the bigger beer gut”. You have to be smart to play the game of football. Not only do they have to memorize the whole playbook, but every player on the team, from the QB to the lineman, have to study their opponents. They spend hours watching videos and fixing their on-field problems. And last time I checked, you don’t have to go to college to play baseball. Football, on the other hand, they won’t accept you if you don’t finish 3 yrs of college. So, I would have to say that football players are much smarter than you think.

Other teams don’t have blogs because they are pocketing the Revenue sharing money.
I feel like going on to other blogs and saying “yor team sucks donkey D*** and yer all a bunch of **** garglers.”
Hmph. “nation”. right. Thats funny. Nice ball park, BTW.

1) “homer broadcasters” that do the play-by-play for other teams. I mean, do these guys EVER say anything bad about their teams? It was Michael Kay himself who said time and time again that the yankees “Quit” when they are behind. These Blue jay Guys are just AWEFUL…you can hear them cheering! And I thought Sterling was a homer…

2) Wilson Betemit arguing balls and strikes: ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The WB swings at anything in the same zip code as the plate. He wouldn’t know a ball from a strike if he actually owned a pair…hows that for arronagance-meets-irony?

3) Something else that “kinda” bugs me is this whole idea that football is only about “who has a bigger beer gut”. Um, I don’t know abiut you, but I have yet to see a guy on a field who can go 4 quarters with a beer gut-on any level. You need to be a good athlete to play football, at any position, and you need to know what you are doing. Do you realize how many plays, audibles, and adjustments you have to memorize just to make the starting roster? WR’s, Lineman, the QB….the whole offense needs to be on the same page, or else someone is going to get killed out there (most likely the QB). And EVERYONE needs to make the same read if a team is running the west coast offense. There are 7-10 different reads the QB has to make, and the rest of the team needs to see the same thing as him. And don’t get me started about “defense”. Thats twice as complicated as offense, in my opinion. What was the deciding play for the last SB? Someone blew their coverage assignment. Football is as complete a sport as any other-I love baseball and football…

4) the NFL. Can you screw up a sport anymore then this? Ever see the “Last Boyscout”? yeah, here we are…
At least MLB is really trying to clean up the sport, while the NFL continues to reward players regardless of what they do off the field. There is no better example then Jamal Lewis being thrown in jail for coke trafficking and then getting out in time to play the next season. (how about that Matt Jones? Cutting some blow w/ a Credit Card and getting busted!) And these guys don’t even care about the sport…Halas and Lombardi are turning over in their graves…shameful. And I could care less about MNF now…

5) Wilson Betemit arguing balls and strikes. Did I mention how much that irritates me?

6) the “yankees suck” chant. Yeah, we suck. So, hows that revenue sharing doing for ya? Ya liking that extra dough the Yanks (and subsequently their fans) are giving you through luxury taxing? Yeah we suck…but really, how much cash are you getting from “us” to NOT improve your team(s) ar sign your own players? Still think we suck? Yeah, I thought so.

This team seriously need to find a hitter fast. Our pitching is great. It’s the offense that sucks A**. 1 Hit too far in this game. Wow, Moose pitches a great game and we lose; and now Joba is pitching a great game, and looks like we are going to lose. And what sucks even more is the fact that the rays are in a slump right now, looking to loose 5 straight.

Soxblow,
Yep, a great pitching staff with no offense to support them is a guaranty to getting deep in the playoffs. Just ask the Blue Jays, The A’s, The Dodgers, The Padres, and the D’Backs. Pitching and defense might be more important than a high-octane offense, but pitching and defense mean JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK SHiiiiiiiiiiT when there is offense putting runs on the board. You do know that the team with the most RUNS at the end of the game wins, don’t you? One last thing: this isn’t 1982, so don’t expect a team that can’t score to amount to squat in October.

When the Yanks aren’t home I have the Mets to make fun of (I usually never go—I hate that place). Didn’t work yesterday when they won and swept the Giants but I got to make fun of Zito! And you pulled off the sarcasm up until the Lugo thing. I did a double take when I read that one.

Um, no I was being sarcastic but I guess I didn’t pull it off…damn! Well I got a Ranger game go to, I did nothing at my law firm today, but oh well, it’s Friday. Evie your’e lucky you can see the Yankees play live whenever you want to…I’m stuck going to Ranger games but they have been fun to watch this year.

Thanks Evie, leave it up to the two chicks to understand that A-Rod and others deserve more criticism than Jeter! Sure he’s had a couple of mishaps on the field but he always makes up for it. Maybe I’m too protective over Jeet but oh well…bite me. Let’s trade Jeter! We will a WS for sure!!!!

At least Jeter’s still hitting clutch…whereas AARP-Rod doesn’t know what that is if it came up behind him and shoved a bat up his ***. We don’t even need a good hitter on this lineup. We need ANYONE that can hit crappy pitching because that seems to be where we fall down time after time. I’ll understand if they cant score more than two runs tonight but last night was just inexcusable. Yanks better sweep Toronto. Go Joba…

I know Jeet is the Captain and he is held to higher standards but obviously the man is having an off year. I think he’s entitled to have an off year from time to time no? Where’s the frustration with guys like A-Rod? Abreu? Melky? None of these motherfreakers have done enough. Why does it always have to be Jeet all the time, there are nine dudes in the lineup…Everybody needs to wake the hell up at the plate.

If this kind of output is what we can expect from Jeter, he had better not squeal when he gets moved from SS to LF. He certainly hasn’t made a case for staying since he barely performs at the plate, and only occaisionally shows up with the glove. What’s his problem?

“You have to score 1 more run than them” – Joe Girardi
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Who are you, John Madden? No s_it, Sherlock. How about trying to score 10 more than them? Maybe then when you fall short of the goal, you don’t LOSE. Screw this guy.

And another thing, Skippy
Maybe I’m sick of hearing your comments about opposing pitching. Your man crushes over every pitcher that takes the Yankees to the woodshed is making me SICK. Every time we get skunked, all I hear is, “We gotta give the guy credit. He had great stuff. He pitched a great game. I want his tongue in my mouth.” How about you say something like, “I’m disappointed in our total lack of effort at the plate. There was no excuse for hitting the way we hit today. There will be extra batting practice in it for all of them before tomorrow’s game. These guys are going to hit, or they will sit the bench. NO EXCUSES.”

Hey Girardi, it doesn’t matter at all how good or bad your pitching is if you can’t score them any damn runs. Stop commenting on how great your pitching has been, and start publically crushing your HOPELESS offense. Grow a set.

I didn’t notice that it’s a rematch of Joba’s first start. Joba vs. Halladay. Let’s see how Joba fairs with a pitch count well above seventy available to him. And it might help if the dude got run support.

“So I could have the pleasure of looking in their eyes as the life drained slowly from their body”…let me get this straight—You’re NOT mad?
NY has good sports teams and their all entertaining to hear things about and stuff that’s why our ESPN radio isn’t so bad. Brian I’m assuming the fan fest is this kiddy attraction. Let me know if it’s something my 8-year-old brother would enjoy…I’ll take him I guess.

Here’s a comment from Coach G,
“It’s not deflating,” Girardi explained. “Jose Veras has been so great for us. None of our relievers, positional players or pitchers are going to be perfect”.
Um coach, you guys lost to the Pirates. It deflated me. If you expect to win the Wild Card, you guys better be perfect.

AH I feel your pain, the Dallas Cowboys getted cramed down my throat on a daily basis….OMG what did T.O. say today….Has Pacman Jones shot anybody? Who’s Tony Romo dating? It’s SUCKS. Thankfully though a little Ranger and Maverick talk gets mixed in from time to time. But I just listen to New York’s ESPN radio station on the internet, it’s good stuff.

Living in Idaho, I don’t have a MLB baseball team within 650 miles. So, our local talk radio sports station talks about NOTHING but Boise State Bronco Football……..year round. We have these “Blue and Orange Stores” that sell BSU merch on EVERY street corner, in every town. For crying out loud, they still sell 2007 Fiesta Bowl merch. It was a year and a half ago, but I can’t go 5 minutes without hearing someone talking about beating Oklahoma, seeing a Fiesta Bowl T-shirt, having to endure replays of the game on local TV stations, or covering my ears while they play that game on continuous loop in EVERY retail store in the valley. I wish BSU would have gotten killed in that game. Maybe then we wouldn’t have this rampant bandwagoning. It’s enough to make me want to slowly choke the life out of several people. Face to face, of course, so I could have the pleasure of looking in their eyes as the life drained slowly from their body. But I ain’t mad………..

And another thing. Is there an NFL player who isn’t a thugged-out gangsta? Is there any out there that has a criminal record NOT as long as my leg? Why is it that everytime I turn on Sportscenter, I have to sit through 20 minutes of guy’s making it rain, dudes getting kidnapped and beat up, dudes punching strangers in clubs, punching their wives, getting drunk and ramming their rigs into a pole, slamming their rigs into pedestrians and other motorists, shooting someone, getting shot, smoking home invaders in the dome with a bedpost, taking a knife to a gunfight and getting iced, snorting 50 ft. lines of coke, getting baked on hippy lettuce…………….?

Yeah I hear ya Chaz B., I really don’t get the obsession with football, but I do follow it, thanks to Peyton Manning but baseball is the best, no doubt. Offense is down in MLB and the fact that the games are so long could be factors on why sports broadcasters aren’t that geeked up about baseball. But do yourself a favor if you want to hear good baseball talk, tune into 1050 ESPN New York on the net, Kellerman and Kenny and the Michael Kay show are the best, Yankee and Met baseball talk dominate their shows!

I used to love the NFL. That is until ESPN and FOX decided to shove it down my throat 24/7/365. Like right now, with the QB controversy in GB. Farve? Rogers? Farve. No, Rogers. Is Farve retired? Is he coming back? Who thinks he should come back? Who wants Rogers? Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. Farve. Rogers. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Just enough already!

I think Girardi is afraid Posada might hurt is shoulder again trying to throw out runners(doesn’t help that AL Steals leader Ellsbury and team steals leader Tampa Bay are both in our division) and be sent of to the DL again. The absolute last thing we need now is losing Posada’s bat. Besides, at the rate we’re going, our DL may be able to put together a better team than our major league roster.

That’s why I love baseball (and any sport in the Olympics). It’s hard work and determination. You constantly have to get better and work harder and have a goal oriented mind. In football (which I’ll admit—I do like) the players have no minds. They barely graduated HS. In football the only thing that matters is who has the biggest beer belly to be able to push the other players down. It’s all a matter of which player is the biggest cow with the strongest body. The only person that has to use his mind and has work to do is the QB. The journalists on ESPN (I don’t know about other stations) also have no minds. Like attracts like. They don’t understand baseball and they don’t get how it could be a sport if no ones pushing anyone or knocking anyone to the ground (with the exception of Pedro Martinez). So they like pretending that no one watches it.

The other dude is 58 year old, Chad Moeller. The only reason I can think of that Girardi is keeping Posada from catching is because his arm is still burger, and he couldn’t throw my grandmother out trying to steal 3rd. Otherwise, why would he keep Molina behind the dish? For defense? Great, he’ll stop bad hops and throw some guys out while he hits .200. Super!

One last thing I wanted to mention, since I’m talking to myself. I have had it up to my forehead with EVERY sports broadcaster in the entire country whining about this being the “slowest time of the year for sports”. Why is it that every one of these guys makes it clear that they hate baseball? Do I need their opinion, or do I need the news? It seems like I can’t even find impartial sports media nowadays. Even these losers have to editorialize every story. Here’s a thought, just because you don’t like baseball, doesn’t mean that noone likes it. Is it me, or when baseball sets attendance records year in and year out, doesn’t that mean that baseball is getting more and more popular every year?
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What so special about the NFL? Frankly, it’s nothing more than a bunch of roided-up freaks of nature (and if you don’t think that the NFL covers up rampant drug use among its players, you are naive) marching up and down the field. I’ll not be a sheep and mindlessly fall in line at the alter of that ridiculous league. Screw the NFL.

I like having Mo be the last AL pitcher to pitch in an All-Star game at the stadium. There are signs all over about Mo being a “closer in the city of closers” (which I never understood) but he should for sure close out the game. And I don’t think Jorge is all banged up because he was clearly pissed off and not being able to catch. If he is banged up we need another alternative beside that catcher whose name I could never ever remember (Not Molina—the other dude). Maybe Jorge’s fine.

Don’t worry, Bonds will be paying off some serious debts soon. So we’ll get to see him in the ring too before you know it. Looks like his agent got the big, fat NO! from the Yankees. So we can finally put this crap about Bonds playing for us to bed. Even better, it looks about 115% likely that NO team in MLB wants this cancerous bane of baseball in their clubhouse. GOOD RIDDANCE, Barr-oid, Have fun being some dude’s PUNK in the can.

Posada is obviously still banged up. Otherwise, why would we our .200 hitting backup catcher get start after start? Frankly, I’m a little concerned. If Jorge can’t get right, then we need to find a starting catcher for next season on top of everything else. Molina is NOT going to cut it playing 130 games and stinking up the bottom of the order. Of course, it’s not like the rest of this team is any better. They all suck with a bat. What a bunch of bums.

I think Rivera starting the All-Star game is a good idea, I mean it will be anticlimactic if the AL doesn’t have the lead in the ninth, but then again with the sluggers on the AL they probably will have the lead. Hell Josh Hamilton ought to be able to win the game by himself, I’m going to the Ballpark to cheer my boy Josh on tonight:) And I have heard that Jorge gets really salty when Girardi asks him to play first or DH, but Jorge needs to get over it and do what is best for the team.

Back in time

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